Jose Marti

Jose Marti (28 January 1853-19 May 1895) was a Cuban revolutionary poet and philosopher who was a hero of the independence struggle against Spain during the late 19th century. He succeeded in starting the Cuban War of Independence against Spanish rule in 1895, but he was killed shortly after landing. His poem Versos Sencillos was later adapted to the definitive Cuban patriotic song Guantanamera.

Biography
Jose Marti was born in Havana, Captaincy General of Cuba on 28 January 1853, the son of a Spanish immigrant father from Valencia and a Canarian mother. He began his political activism at a young age, when Cuba was going through the Ten Years' War revolt against Spain, and he travelled extensively in Spain, Latin America, and the United States to raise awareness and support for Cuban independence. He unified the Cuban emigrant community, especially in Florida, and he also designed the Cuban Revolutionary Party and planned out a massive uprising against Cuban rule. This became the Cuban War of Independence in 1895, and Marti landed in Cuba on 11 April 1895. On 19 May 1895, at Dos Rios, the Spanish Army attacked Marti's 700-strong rebel army, and he was shot and killed in a skirmish with the Spanish. His death was a blow to the aspirations of the Cuban rebels, and he became a national hero. Unfortunately, his worst fears were realized when, shortly after his death, the USA occupied Cuba following the Spanish-American War.